Nut and fruit gatherer



April 1950 P. H. BALSBAUGH 2,503,990

NUT AND FRUIT GATHERER Filed Jan. 15, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor 6 Paul H. Ba/sbaugh April 1950 P. H. BALSBAUGH 2,503,990

NUT AND FRUIT GATHERER Filed Jan. 15, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 32 Fig. 4 2/ Fig.5.

Inventor Paul H. Ba/sbaugh on the trees.

Patented Apr. 11 195(? *um'rso STATES PATENT: OFFIECQEQKY} Paul H. Balsbaugh, Modesto, Calif Application January 15, 1948, Serial No. 2,391'

The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in tree shaking machines for the purpose of gathering. nuts or fruits ripened An important object of the invention is to provide a tractoroperated tree shaker of this character and embodying means for oscillating a cable attached to a tree whereby tovibrate the tree to shake the ripened fruit or nuts therefrom. Another object of the invention is'to provide a tractor operated device of this character which eliminates the use of long poles to provide the shaking action whereby the tractor may be freely moved through an orchard without interference by the trees.

Another object is to provide an apparatus of this character which may be easily and quickly mounted in position on a tractor for operation by the power take-off of the tractor and without necessitating any changes or alterations in the construction thereof.

A still further object is to provide a device of this character of simple and practical construction, which is efficient and reliable in operation, relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of constructionand operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view.

Figure 2 is a top plan view.

Figure 3 is an enlarged front elevational view of the cable oscillating unit.

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view through the unit taken substantially on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is an enlarged lan view of the vibrating connection for the cable, and

Figure 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the housing for the eccentric and taken on a line 6-6 of Figure 3.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein for the purpose of illustration, I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 5 designates a conventional type of farm tractor having a power take-off pulley 6 driving a belt I. A cylindrical housing 8 is secured in position to the front end of the frame of the tractor by saddle supports 9 bolted to the frame and having split clamping bands 9a welded or otherwise suitably secured to the supports and 2 Claims. (01.56-328) clamped about the housing. A shaft it is jour} nalled in the ends of the housing and with a pulley H securedto one endrof the shaft driven by the belt 1. I 3

An eccentric i2 is secured tothe shaft within the housing driving a pitman or connectingrod l3 which extends radially of the housing 8 into a radial chamber [4 carried at thefront-upper portion of the housing. v

A shaft I5 is reciprocably mounted in a bushing I6 enclosed in a sleeve ll having a flange 18 at its inner end bolted to the outer end of chamber M. The inner end of the shaft projecting into the chamber is connected to the connecting rod l3 by a wrist pin IS.

A sleeve 26 is slidable on the outer end of sleeve ll with a bushing 2| therebetween, the outer end of the sleeve 20 being closed to provide an anvil 22. The inner end of sleeve 20 is formed with a flange 23 held against the rear face of an annular plate 24 by a retaining ring 25. A bearing assembly 25 is positioned between the flange 23 and plate 24 to facilitate rotation of sleeve 20.

A plurality of rods 21 extend forwardly from the flange l8 and on which the plate 24 is slidably mounted and held thereon by nuts 25 threaded on the front ends of the rods. Coil springs 28 are mounted on the rods between the flange l8 and the plate 24 to exert their influence on the plate in a forward direction and provide shock absorbing means between the plate 24 and the flange l8.

The front end of the shaft I 5 is slidable in the end 22 of sleeve 28 and the front end of the shaft is provided with a hammer 29 held in position thereon by a nut 30.

A wire bale 3| is secured to sleeve 20 and to which the rear end of a cable 32 is attached.

In the operation of the device, the front end of cable 32 is attached to the trunk or limb of a tree and the shaft I0 is driven by the power take-01f of the tractor whereby the eccentric l2, connecting rod l3 and shaft I5 will impart a reciprocating movement to the cable to shake the tree and cause the ripened nuts or fruit to fall therefrom.

The hammer 29 strikes the anvil 22 a sharp blow during reciprocation of shaft IE to also cause a vibration of the cable. The housing 8 may contain a quantity of lubricating oil to lubricate the working parts and is provided with a removable inspection plate 33.

The housing may be rotatably adjusted in the clamps 9a to swing shaft I5 vertically to exert a straight pulling force on cable 32 by said shaft.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings it is believed that'a clear understanding of the construction, operation and advantages of the device will be quite apparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description is accordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same is susceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of the invention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention what "is claimed as new is:

1. A tree shaking device comprising a horizontal rotary shaft, a housing for said fshaft, a shaft housing projecting radially of the first named housing, a second shaft reciproca'bly mounted in the second housing and operatively connected to the first shaft, a cable connecting the outer end of the second shaft to an object, n'ha'mmer carried by the second shaft, an anvil freely carried by the second named housing in the 'patho'f retracting movement of the 'hammer, and recoil means connecting the anvil to the second housing to s'e't up vibration inthe "cable.

2. A'tree shaking device comprising a horizontal shaft housing, a rotary power operated shaft in the housing, means supporting the housing forrota'table adjustment, a second shaft housing projecting radially from the first shaft housing, a reciproca ble shaft in the second shaft housing and operatively connected to the first mentioned RAUL BALSBAUGH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this ,patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,021,403 lDal-rl ing May 28, 1912 1,290,531 Evert Jan. 7, 1919 1372262 Abildgaard Oct. 30, 1923 2,159,311 Berger May 23, 1939 OTHER REFERENCES The Mechanical Tree Shaker, by Fairbank and Serr, Diamond Walnut News, July 1943, pages 'ii-fi.

"Mechanical Harvesting of Walnuts Is :Making Progress, :by Serr and Fairbank, Diamond Walnut News, 1944, pages 8-10.

V Pecan Gathering Device Promising for :Georglans, by Press IHuddleston, "Dhe Atlanta Constitution, Nov. 23, 1945, page .18.

Thats scmeth'ing Jim Developed," by F'ran'k J. Taylor, Country Gentleman, May 1948, pages 20., :and 86-89. 

